Khaberni - Luciano Spalletti returned to football on Thursday after being signed by Juventus to replace the recently sacked Igor Tudor.
Juventus has given Spalletti a deadline until the end of the season hoping that the 66-year-old coach can secure the team's qualification for next season's Champions League, as his contract extends until June 30th of the following year.
If Spalletti achieves this goal, he will be given more time to help Juventus return to the top of Italian football after being surpassed by rivals Inter Milan and Napoli in recent seasons.
Spalletti was the man who led Napoli to their historic Italian league title in 2023 and has been one of the most influential coaches in the country over the past two decades, achieving outstanding results with Roma and Inter Milan. His success at Napoli led him to tattoo the club’s emblem on his arm and declare that he would not coach any other club in Italy after ending a 33-year wait to win the Italian league.
Spalletti's coaching tenure in Italy ended miserably in June after a disastrous title defense at Euro 2024 and a crushing defeat by Norway in the opening match of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Juventus finds itself at a crossroads after years dominated by modest on-field results.
Spalletti will take charge of a club that recorded losses of 58 million euros last season, since the collective resignation of board members at the end of 2022, which paved the way for a financial scandal that cost Juventus a 10-point deduction the following year.
The former president Andrea Agnelli then received two harsh penalties from the Italian Football Federation, and last month he was sentenced to 20 months in prison, suspended, after reaching an agreement with the public prosecutor.
Juventus' 3-1 victory over Udinese on Wednesday marked their first win since mid-September, and Juventus is seventh in the Italian league, six points behind leaders Napoli and Roma.
Spalletti’s first match will be against Cremonese, who were promoted from the second tier last season but are trailing by one point and one place behind their rival.
